ROYAL CAFE

Royal Cafe (2016) is a photo-based documentary project that explores the prevalence of Chinese-Western cafes across small towns in rural Alberta. These cafes — diner-style restaurants caught in an ambiguous time period — reflect the identity of the communities they are in and are also indicative of a very Canadian culinary identity. Although difficult to define, the hybrid nature of Canadian identity, and the rural identity in particular, can be highlighted through the merging of two distinct cultures: Chinese and Western.